A Life Lost In Less Than A Year
by LtheWolf
Summary: Hermione is the one to find the sword of gryffindor but instead of destroying the locket, she keeps it and pretends to destroy it. After she soon gets bored of the boys and leaves them as the locket continues to corrupt her, she stays away for months presumed dead but allows snatchers to catch her and take her to Malfoy manor but why?
1. Who Is She?

_A/N So this is an AU because Malfoy manor will be before they destroy the horcrux and some other things also Hermione is so going to ooc now. Also some of them are a bit older, I'll explain later on._

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the manor as the group of five moved towards a particular room, the dinning room that was currently occupied by the whole of Voldemort's inner circle, four of the five were snatchers and the other was their prisoner so to say.

The lead of the group being the prisoner dressed in dark colours, a hood covering most of their face and a cigarette hanging out of their mouth as they were pushed forward by the four behind, until a set of wooden steps ascended up and all began carefully climbing to the top where the inner circle sat at a long wooden table, the room dark apart from the little light the fire roaring in the hearth gave off and the small amount of moonlight shining in through the window.

"What do you want?" A dark haired witch asked from near the end of the table and the prisoner rolled the cigarette between their fingers before puffing out some smoke, while the four looked confused behind them.

"We found the mudblood!" The lead snatcher announced in a cheerful tone and the whole table of people clad in black looked at them confused, until the same witch said what the rest were thinking. "Mudblood? What mudblood?" She questioned, looking at the hooded figure who kept blowing out smoke rings.

"Hey, Will you stop smoking in my house!" A blonde with an icy gaze shouted towards the figure who finally looked up at the remark before taking the cigarette out of their mouth and blowing it out, placing the leftover in their pocket. "I wasn't aware that I wasn't allowed to smoke, plus it's enchanted so it wouldn't mess up the place anyway." They replied boredly.

"We meant the Granger mudblood. We found her wondering the forest alone." The same snatcher replied, pulling down the hood to reveal a young woman with piercing grey eyes that had a strange tint of red along with long, straight black locks that flowed down her back, she was dressed in a dark green shirt with black jeans and black hoodie on top.

The whole table laughed and the ravenette spoke again. "That's not the Granger girl. Did you get hit by a whomping willow on the way here?" She sneered and some of the black clad figures laughed again, the prisoner smirking along with them.

"Plus Granger was reported as dead months ago, idiots." The black clad woman spoke again, examining the fake Granger. "Nobody could confirm she was dead though." The prisoner spoke again, her head now pointed up in the arrogant way all purebloods did.

"Who is she? She doesn't look like a mudblood, A half-blood? Possibly a pure-blood?" The blonde woman from before questioned but the prisoner remained silent until the snatchers started groaning and gripping their head before they dropped to the floor.

Not long after they stood back up, looking completely confused as to where they were and fear etched into their faces when they realised, the prisoner chuckled at their reaction but not for long, going silent once again.

"Little bitch, you used the imperius curse on us!" The leader, Scabior growled at the woman who just stood there not moving until the dark-haired man pointed his wand at her before pronouncing the spell that hit her in the chest, throwing her to the floor as she seized.

"You have my wand you twat. How could I use the imperius curse on you without a wand?" She growled back while gritting her teeth to suppress screams from the pain flooding her body, he grunted in understanding and took off the curse but she stayed sat up on the floor for a few moments before standing up again and glaring at the four while cracking her bones.

"You didn't mean it properly, it didn't hurt as much as it should have. I've had worse." She piped up and the four looked bewildered at her answer. "And who exactly has done it to you, only worse?" He smirked, thinking she was lying and nearly chocked when she answered him. "Madam Lestrange over there! Much worse then that weak one you just cast." The dark-haired witch's piercing eyes now lay on the young woman.

"I don't remember you. You're lying." Bellatrix shrieked at the dark-haired woman standing down the opposite end of the table. "Well you wouldn't, I looked quite different." Was the reply, a mysterious glint in the young woman's eyes.

"Crucio!" Scabior repeated the curse but the woman had seen it coming and dodged it, shouting a curse back. "CRUCIO!" She shouted, facing the four who now dropped to the floor squirming as a red light surrounded them and screams ripped from their throats. "Accio wand!" She said grinning and her wand flew to her outstretched hand before she flicked it and the curse on them vanished but they still trembled on the floor.

"Pathetic, you can't even take a real cruciatus curse" She spat before returning her vision to the now shocked deatheaters, even the dark lord and Bellatrix had widened eyes in suprise.

"Definitely not the mudblood girl, Granger!" The blonde, Narcissa muttered before looking to her cowering husband and shocked son beside her, both were blonde-haired as well. "What makes you say that Madam Malfoy?" The ravenette asked, tilting her head to the side in amusement as the blonde audibly gulped before replying. "..Because Granger is too much of a good little swot to cast an unforgivable curse on anyone.. even if they deserve it."

"Well okay then.." She smiled before being thrown across the room away from the table, a large gap was left between the table and the windows where she currently lay awkwardly. "She is Granger, the little bitch is just wearing a disguise or disillusion spell or something." Scabior shouted, he was the one who had sent a stunning spell at the woman.

"STUPEFY!" A voice bellowed from the corner and a blue flash crashed into Scabior sending him down the stairs he stood above, along with Greyback, the other two snatchers just looked dazed before pulling out their own wands and shooting spells at the dark-haired woman, who dodged and sent double the amount of spells back but no lethal ones, just stunning and disarming spells until one of them sent a Avada Kedavra her way which she narrowly avoided.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" She screamed in response to a narrowly avoided cruciatus curse, hitting one of them in the chest and knocking him to the floor where he starting to bleed from numerous gashes appearing on his body, she glanced at Severus Snape who looked pale as always with a looking of curiosity on his face.

"Avada Kedavra!" Scabior was up again and casting spells at the dark-haired female who had a few burn marks and gashes along her body. More narrow misses and spells thrown at each other across the room and the woman lay on the floor panting after being knocked down by a 'Impedimenta' spell.

The shaggy haired man staring down at her, wand pointed to her chest as she pushed herself up, he wasn't far from her so if he threw that spell she wouldn't be able to dodge it. "Avada.." He only got half way through his incantation before she had shouted the whole of it. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" She even suprised herself with it as a huge jet of green light shot from her wand, crashing into his chest and sending his body through the air, it stopped as it crumpled against the wall, bones snapping clearly heard by all instead of the shattering of all the windows that now lay in gleaming pieces on the floor.

She glanced to the side at the table of deatheaters, who once again all looked shocked including the dark lord. Once she turned back, a figure already pounced at her throwing them both to the floor, her wand sliding along the floor to rest somewhere hidden from her sight. "Get the fuck off me now!" She cussed wriggling underneath the man above her.

He leaned backwards, slamming his fist into her face, a crack sounding as blood gushed down her nose, her nose was definitely broken but she was seemingly unfazed by that, kicking him off her body and across the floor some way away. "If it turns out to be Granger, watch out for the right hook! She's got a mean right hook." Draco informed the guy on the floor from his place sitting next to his father.

The dark-haired female looked over at Draco and smiled, a genuine smile before turning back to the guy charging at her, a swift move to the side and her foot stretching out resulting in him crashing to the floor seconds later. "Mother fucker!" He grunted before picking himself up, she didn't even give him time to steady himself before landing a right hook to his jaw, a crunching noise sounding, signalling she had probably broken his jaw.

"It's a shame the last proper word you said was a profanity." She teased as he stumbled, spitting out blood as his jaw began to turn purple and swell up, definitely broken. He glared, giving her a two fingered salute before throwing them both to the ground, both of them clawing and hitting each other as they scrambled for the win, eventually the scruffy man managed to grab at the young woman's throat, pressing his hands firmly against her windpipe until her hands dropped to her sides.

Like him, everyone assumed she's dead until the man started gargling, falling on top of the female, blood spilling from his neck where a neat cut is carved from one side to the other, a bloodied knife in her hand drops to the floor beside her while she pushes the body away breathing rapidly, aware of the many eyes resting on her.

"Definitely not the mudblood!" Bellatrix laughed out, bearing her usual manic smile while she stared at the woman who was now covered in blood, sticky red blood all over her clothes and a manic smile etched onto her face.

A sudden growl interupted Bellatrix's laughter and the room fell silent once again as Greyback appeared on the top of the stairs, a blood thirsty look in his eyes as he lunged, the woman still looking for her wand that seemed to have dissappeared. "Accio wand" She mumbled but nothing happened and the beastly man advanced on her.

In seconds he would be on her, she accessed the situation before diving out of the way of the man who landed exactly where she had been moments earlier, a hard object now dug into her side as she leaned on it and she plunged her hand into her pocket, cold metal touching her hand and she instantly knew what it was but there was only one chance.

She rolled out of the way again, leaping up and running around the other side of the table, Greyback growled and decided to go over the table just as she expected, so the moment his feet were above the table and he was facing her, she pulled out what was in her pocket.

A gun, she quickly aimed it for his head, holding the weapon with both hands, her right hand pulling the trigger and a 'bang' echoing through the room as the bullet left the gun and landed right on her target, right between his eyes, it seemed his features contorted before his body dropped on the table instead of the spot she stood, blood pooling on the gleaming wooden surface.

A breath she had held finally released as she took in quick breaths of air but keeping a stoic expression like she didn't care because really she didn't, she was just tired off all the bullshit she had been through recently.

"So who are you really? You're clearly not Miss Granger." Voldemort asked calmly, unlike how she had expected him to react after they had ruined his meeting. "You really want to know?" She asked, looking him dead in his red snake-like eyes and he nodded.

"If you wish dark lord.. but I shall need my wand back first" She replied, gazing over everyone's faces. Voldemort looked over his followers faces and spoke again, this time to the older dark-haired witch, with the piercing black eyes who always wore black dresses with leather corsets.

"Bellatrix, her wand please." He ordered and she stood up, walking around the table to give the young witch her wand back but not before examining her, blood covered her face, leaving only her eyes and above as the pale white she usually was, her hands and clothes as equally splattered with blood, as all attention was drawn to her and the dark witch who was now circling her like a predator after it's prey.

Her wand was placed in her outstretched palm as Bellatrix walked away, licking her lips in satisfaction as she wondered who this woman really was. The woman quickly pointed the tip of her wand to her hair and it began to change, first growing longer and then curling so curls cascaded down her back, the young witch looked very much like Bellatrix in that moment before the hair turned a dark brown and her eyes changed to brown as well, before she pulled her wand away from her face and pointed it at the window, mouthing spell so the windows repaired themselves before she let her arms fall to her sides keeping the wand in her grip.

"It is the mudblood!" Bellatrix shrieked in suprise looking at a bloodied Hermione instead of the bloodied ravenette woman from moments ago. "Hermione... Granger, no way in hell is that really you! Merlin's balls! What happened to you Granger?" Draco stuttered before Hermione's gaze moved to land on Serverus, her old potions teacher had his eyes fixed on her although in his opinion she looked nothing like the old Hermione, she looked like a new person.

The dark lord looked just as equally dumbfounded by the discovery as everyone else before he laughed and everyone snapped out of their trances on the brunette, instead glaring at her. "Polyjuice potion? Another disillusion spell? A muggle disguise? Metamorphmagus abilities? It has to be something else, a mudblood girl can't have taken out those four like that, mudbloods steal magic and yet she just controlled it like it belongs to her." Voldemort poundered out loud as he fiddled with his wand.

"None of the above... It took two months for them to presume I was dead, at least four for them to believe it, six to accept it and on the eighth month they had forgotten I was even there, funny huh, how things can change so drastically in such a small amount of time when one runs away from it all." Hermione announced.

Nagini slithered around the floor and Hermione looked at the snake and smiled, crouching down to pet the snake, Nagini seemed fine with the brunette petting her and slithered up one of the chairs nearby the girl and eventually managed to rest across her shoulders, the dark lord and Bellatrix looked truly astonished that the snake had not attacked the girl yet.

The looks of astonishment increasing when Hermione talked to the snake but instead of english the sentence came out as a load of hiss sounds and strange words, she had spoken parseltongue to the snake. _"You won't go hungry anytime soon, there's plenty for you to eat on the floor now."_ Hermione hissed and the snake nodded slightly and she crouched down again so the snake could slither off again, but not in the direction of Voldemort like she had expected instead Nagini approached one of the bodies now all on the floor and began to swallow it whole, the snake had actually obeyed what she had said even though it wasn't an order.

 _"What the hell was that? How can you speak parseltongue?"_ Voldemort hissed and she actual understood and answered in english. "I don't know, honestly." Bellatrix stood up, stalking over to the brunette and a 'slap' resonated through the air but the brunette registered no pain from the slap as an angry red handprint appeared on her check.

"Seriously I have no clue." Hermione replied and Bellatrix this time threw a punch colliding with the girl's stomach and she buckled over, the snake was near her again hissing at her and she understood it. _"Why have you got that? It's not yours, it doesn't belong around your neck girl!"_

She shuffled back away from it's beared teeth and replied. _"I don't know why I kept it but I felt the urge to stop Potter and Weasley destroying it so it's here safe while they think it's destroyed. You can have it, it can go back to it's rightful owner now."_

She grabbed the locket from around her neck, passing it to the snake and now she felt emptier than before as she stood back up. "I think.. I know now and so does Nagini" Hermione asked and Voldemort looked at the snake that appeared in his lap with the locket in it's open mouth for the man to take.

 _"Thank you"_ Nagini hissed at her and the dark lord examined it knowing what it really was but he didn't look very angry like she imagined in fact he looked rather calm.

Bellatrix was by her side and digging sharp nails into her shoulders before the dark lord called her back, Hermione observed the surroundings and figured it might be best if she left now, the locket had been corrupting her and now it was gone she felt better...


	2. Darkness Destroys Light

_A/N Continuing from the last chapter and all of the characters in Harry Potter are property of J._

Bellatrix was by her side and digging sharp nails into her shoulders before the dark lord called her back, Hermione observed the surroundings and figured it might be best if she left now, the locket had been corrupting her and now it was gone she felt better...

Hermione turned to leave the deatheaters and their lord to plan on how to destroy Harry but a sharp pain in her side made her stop and she realised Bellatrix had stabbed a knife into her hip, the crimson liquid dripping to the floor to join the rest of the blood pooled there, her legs buckled slightly and she struggled to stay stood up. "Not so fast Muddy." Bellatrix sing-songed.

Bellatrix was by her other side supporting her with a wicked smile spread across her face, Hermione looked up at her and croaked a few sentences before becoming numb in the other witches grip. "My blood is crimson, just like yours. There's no difference in it there, it's not muddy, just fucking look!" Bellatrix smirked and laughed.

"Just because it looks the same doesn't mean it's not different, you filthy mudblood! Make no mistake in thinking you are at the same level as us, you are filth and so is you blood." The dark witch hissed at the brunette who flinched at the action.

The dark witch looked to her master who nodded and she dragged the brunette out of the drawing room and into one of the empty rooms nearby. Nagini followed them into the room and lay on the bed Bellatrix had placed Hermione down on and the brunette resumed the petting of the snake from earlier but it opened it mouth for Bellatrix and she pulled out the locket and examined it closely.

In that moment Hermione realised what she was going to do and tried to push the older witch away from her, this time she wanted to keep her last remaining piece of sanity and the locket would take it away if it went around her neck again.

"No, Bellatrix.. you don't understand what's it's like, keep it away from me.. I can't, not again." Hermione pleaded with the other witch. _"Please don't let them do it, I can't stand it anymore."_ Hermione cried out to the snake who just gazed at her with what looked like sympathy but turned the other way as she moved her hand and was desperately struggling with the suprisingly strong witch.

"No, myself and the dark lord decided we liked you as you were, go back to that emotionless mudblood. The one that just killed four people with no remorse. The one who could be on our side." Bellatrix tried to convince Hermione by acting innocent but Hermione still refused until she ran out of energy from the amount blood she was losing, she was feeling faint and the darkness claimed her once again as she clawed to stay in the light but she lost the battle, slumping unconscious on the bed.

The dark-haired witch swiftly hung the locket back around the unconscious girl's pale, bloody neck. "So very bloody for sure. Something other than this locket had to have affected you for you to come to us by choice, since it's obvious you used the imperius curse on them. And you used not just one but all of the unforgivable curses in one day Granger but why? Are you trying to prove something?" Bellatrix muttered as the red surrounding her on the bed, increased in diameter and shade.

Bellatrix sighed removing the hoodie and throwing it to the side before pulling up the now torn and bloodied shirt, carefully removing the knife she always kept with her for many different reasons this being one of them.

The wound bleed more now that the knife wasn't there and the bed covers were soaked in the warm, crimson liquid along with the dark witches hands as she tried to put pressure on the wound and heal her at the same time.

After a few muttered spells with her temporary wand, the wounds were closed up. It was all such a strange sight, the girl looked peaceful except from her face as she was covered in blood and the normally pyschotic witch looked almost sane and kind while sitting near the unconscious girl.

The elder said a few more incantations and the covers were clear of blood and the younger witch's body was wrapped in chains, binding her to the bed, even if she was injured and had the locket she would still be prisoner just not in dungeon, yet.

Bellatrix soon stood up to leave but haulted looking closer at the girl than she had before, now noticing she had left the word 'Mudblood' carved into her skin, only now more words were carved next to it and it spelt out a sentence, it now announced 'Mudbloods are people too' It had turned the derogatory word into a statement that was quite the opposite.

The dark witch had noticed that girl had been covered in all matter of scars, wondering where she got them all from since most clearly weren't inflicted by magic, maybe by that device she had used on that filthy mutt before, she wondered even more what that was but One: She hadn't the faintest idea how to use it, Two: It was probably a filthy muggle thing if she hadn't seen one before, a cool muggle thing at that but Bellatrix would never admit that out loud. And Three: Why use that device when magic was much more convenient?

Speaking of which, where was that thing, she had to take it so that the mudblood couldn't use it against her or anyone else in the manor, even her lowlife husband and Lucius, who are both just a useless as each other.

She had turned to leave the girl alone but now she wanted to find the weapon, she quickly grasped the blood soaked material of the girl's hoodie, or filthy muggle clothing to the pureblood, rummaging her boney hand through the pockets.

She didn't find anything that peaked her attention immediately, just a crushed packet of cigarettes, a bloodied knife which the dark witch couldn't imagine the witch using even with the early events, a folded up silver and green baseball cap, a scrap of paper with the bold words 'Robert Lawrence' the slightly browned paper didn't peak any interest until she unfolded the last part and read the word 'Terminated' it looked like it was written in blood and look scribbled and unruly but the last thing she pulled out interested her the most, it was the thing the girl had used to kill Greyback, how she didn't know but she wanted to find out.

The black object was heavier then she thought it would be and seem cold to the touch, so she guessed it was made from metal, little latches along the gun, she assumed did different things and it looked confusing with the amount of them.

The object felt rough in places but smooth in other and had a few holes on its front and writing engraved along its sides, she could just feel what the writing said if she concentrated hard enough a huge G wrapped around the word LOCK so it spelt out the word 'Glock' which meant nothing to her, moving her fingers down the object revealed more engraving '17C' followed by the word 'Austria' she was sure that was a country and not just a random word like the rest, the last part confused her the most, it was like unsolved mathematics to her as it read '9×19'.

This thing was more confusing then she thought it would be so the dark witch walked back to the drawing room, still examining the piece she had found, some of the others at table glancing at her like she was mad, well technically she was but it wasn't for touching muggle-made objects.

"What is it that your so interested in Bellatrix?" The dark lord's voice sounded and she snapped her attention to him as she sat in her usual place. "This! It's the thing that Granger used to take down Greyback. I can't seemed to understand it though, my lord" She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Hmm we'll check it out properly once the important information for tonights meeting is wrapped up." He announced and the meeting continued as the dark lord muttered on about information he had already told them in the last meeting and how he was sure he would find the potter boy soon.

After about an hour or so, Voldemort looked to Bellatrix again and held out his hand for her to place the object, she did so without hesitation and he now nimbly spun it around in his boney fingers, examining every feature of it before tapping it lightly with his wand, nothing happened and everyone looked confused.

"It's certainly intriguing Bellatrix!" The dark lord had unexpectedly spoke about the muggle weapon, which they would normally take no notice of, it was passed around the table and each of the deatheaters examined it before trying to figure it out, all eventually failing and passing it to the next person until it landed in Bellatrix's hands again. "Nobody could figure it out?" She mumbled as she stared at the object in deep thought.

"You wouldn't be able to, it's muggle-made. Far to filthy for purebloods to be handling" A sarcastic voice sounded from the door Bellatrix had dragged Hermione through into the hall before into the vaccant bedroom.

Immediately the dark witches eyes shot to the figure in the doorway, it was Hermione and she was wearing a smug smirk on her face, her clothes still the same and covered in blood except for the addition of a short black leather jacket and numerous belts on her waist and legs. "How.. How did you get out? I chained you to the bed!" Bellatrix shrieked as she glared at the girl who had now advanced from the door and was standing near the table, close enough to hear them properly but far enough to not be in the witch's immediate vicinity.

"I have my ways, one doesn't have to share everything, then where would I get the air of mystery I have now." Hermione replied to Bellatrix casually as if she wasn't in a room where at least 50 deatheaters could murder her right there and as if she were an old acquaintance with the witch who had tortured her, but she supposed in way they were at least acquainted with each other.

"What the fuck does all of this writing even mean Mudblood?" Bellatrix seethed at the brunette's answer to her early question, said brunette smiling before answering. "Well 'Glock' is the type of gun it is, as in its model, the '17C' is the model of Glock it is. 'Austria' is a country which I assume you know, that's where the the gun manufactured and the '9×19' isn't an equation if that's what you where thinking, it's the bullet caliber in the gun, like the type of bullet. Happy?"

"And what the hell is a gun and bullet?" Bellatrix growled at her, Hermione just gave the witch a dissaproving look, she nearly facepalmed but didn't think the witch would let her do that without jumping over the table and either A: Killing her, B: Torturing her or C: Both of the above.

"Well a gun is what that thing is.." Hermione paused pointing to the gun in hand as if trying to teach a group of toddlers a new word because that's basically what she was doing only the toddlers were a bunch of murderous deatheaters. ".. And bullets are what is shot from the gun through those holes at the front. The thing that went through Greyback and killed him, I would show you but you have the gun and they're inside of it.. for now." Hermione continued and Bellatrix's face seemed to contort into what could only be described as pure rage but it didn't phase the girl anymore.

"Are you trying to imply we're stupid by talking that? And was a threat Mudblood?" She scowled at the taller girl as she stood straight with the air of a pureblood 'how dare she' was all Bellatrix could think about it. "No, I was simply explaining the term like you asked.. And no, it wasn't a threat it's just that bullets don't stay in guns forever Madam Lestrange. It is us that decide when they will be used though." The brunette spoke calmly, ignoring the degrading name the pureblood had called her.

The pureblood looked about ready to pop a vein, glaring at the muggle-born as she stood just out of reach. "Miss Granger, Why are you here? And how?" Voldemort asked the girl, who replied the same as she had with the dark witch. "Like I said to Madam Lestrange, I have my ways and one doesn't have to share everything, I would like to keep the air of mystery I have for now."

"Very well." Was his short answer before Hermione had the gun pointed at her face, Bellatrix on the other end, her face twisted with fury as she aimed the muggle weapon at its owner. "Wouldn't you care to inform us Mudblood?" She more ordered then asked and Hermione tried to keep a stoic face but laughed, not a manic laugh like Bellatrix but like how you would laugh at something funny.

The rest looked at her like she was suicidal, basically it was suicidal to piss about with the pyschotic witch but Hermione couldn't help it. "What's so fun? I'm pointing your own weapon at you and threatening to pull the trigger!" Bellatrix stated.

"Let me see.. You don't know how to use a gun so it's kinda useless in your hands and I'm not scared you anymore. I don't feared death so even if you did know how to work it, I wouldn't care. Plus it's my gun after all, I know all of its tricks and you don't have a clue, Bellatrix!" Hermione smirked, her gaze on Bellatrix's face which began to soften and she wore a manic smile instead of a mask of rage.

A few clicks signalled the dark witch had figured out how to at least arm the gun, Hermione's head still her target. "Well done you figured it out, go ahead try it out, I know you would love to.. A new killing toy for you." The brunette concluded sounding bored, it was clear that her body language gave it away as she checked her wristwatch as if counting the time for something.

"You're not afraid at all?" The dark lord was the one to ask this and the brunette shook her head in response, the boney finger resting on the trigger tightened and the dark lord nodded that it was Bellatrix's decision to make, the force on the trigger increased and the gun clicked with a little 'bang' but still the brunette seemed chilled out, no new injuries were on her body just a small amount of white powder covered her clothes which she quickly brushed off.

"You done? One bullet was real, the rest decoy bullets. Nice try though Bellatrix." The girl smirked, as the deatheater's face turned to rage again and the gun clicked numerous times until its clip was empty before it was dropped, her hands reaching for the younger witch's throat, a click haulting her midway there.

"This however is fully loaded with real bullets Bellatrix!" Hermione grinned pyschotically and Bellatrix had to admit this even scared her. The girl's knuckles pressed into her ribcage as did the gun, a series of other clicks sounded and black eyes looked down as if pleading into darkened brown eyes, they looked almost black as well, Bellatrix seemed to be pleading for Hermione to stop but she would never say it out loud, especially not to a Mudblood in front of her precious master.

She looked at Narcissa out of the corner of her eye, shock and disbelief clear in the normally icy expression, Draco held the same look and Lucius was averting his eyes from the situation. The dark lord stared back at her as if daring her to do it, the gun pressed further into Bellatrix's ribcage and her breath started to hitch, her legs trembling slightly but Hermione was sure she was the only one close enough to notice it, sweat was forming on her brow and her face still held up the stoic facade but her eyes now reflected sadness and fear, as well as a understanding as if she understood she was going to die and accepted it but she could also pick up a hint of respect, maybe for the muggle-born sticking up to her since no one else dared to.

"You're fine. How would killing you benefit me? It would only make things troublesome!" Hermione smiled kindly before pulling the gun away and securing it back into its place in one of the holsters, breathing returned to normally and the atmosphere was less tense now.

 _A/N So normal Hermione shows her face a little but dark!Hermione is much better ^^ and she can be with Bellatrix easier that way._


	3. Maybe Darkness Isn't The Only Thing Left

_A/N So there's mentions of torture which is obvious with Bellatrix, but there's abuse from Bellatrix's past, so if you're disturbed by that skip the bit in italics, though I warn you that it's important to the story and Hermione's is probably going to be a lot, lot worse._

"Your fine. How would killing you benefit me? It would only make things troublesome!" Hermione smiled kindly before pulling the gun away and securing it back into its place in one of the holsters, breathing returned to normal and the atmosphere was less tense now.

Hermione stood straight, turning on her heels to walk down the stairs she had not long since walked up, a quick glance over her shoulder before descending the marble stairs and strolling across the entrance hall and through the door to the gardens of the manor.

"Who's going to follow the Mudblood and stop her escaping? Though I doubt she could from here with all the enchantments in place." Voldemort asked, looking along the table at all of his followers, but nobody was making eye contact with him and had faces of disgust at having to follow a mudblood around.

"Bellatrix, will you do the honor? Maybe you and the Mudblood could sort out the issue from earlier." Voldemort suggested and the dark witch nodded before following the path the brunette had taken.

The garden of Malfoy manor was gigantic like the manor itself, though one would say it was many different gardens together since it seemed to be spilt into sections.

A peaceful fountain trickled continuously in a calming manner in one section and a peacock marched about gracefully nearby the fountain, a few trees grew nearby creating shade from the moonlight as it had just recently turned quite dark, the pale moonlight being the only light source outside of the manor.

The ghostly looking gravel crunched beneath the young witch's feet as she tread across the paths, exploring the garden, it would be useful to know the place if she needed an escape. Tall hedges about the height to the second floor of the manor bordered the gardens to give the occupants privacy.

More wandering about the garden showcased its tranquil beauty, one corner was filled with trees of all kinds, fruits and nuts hanging from some of them. Another corner had a small lake and was surrounded by tall grasses and flowers.

More hedges, trees and flowers graced the garden which she found were mostly arranged in patterns and she had even found a group of flowers that clearly showed off the slytherin pride as they consisted of silver and green flowers that shimmered in the moonlight.

Hermione had searched the garden briefly, but maybe some other time when it was light she could check for weak points, but for now she sat down on a stone carved bench near the water of the lake, crickets, birds and numerous other animals called out in the night.

The peaceful vibes she got, had the brunette staring into the dark waters of the lake, little light reflecting off of its surface giving it a mystical feel though she didn't doubt that it wasn't actually mystical anyway with many secrets hidden below the surface.

Hermione seemed so mesmerised by the lake and the peaceful sounds of the night that she didn't notice a dark presense approach her from behind as the gravel crunched underneath the figure's feet and the cool wind picked up, making both of their hair flow with it and snapping Hermione from her daze.

"Hello, Bellatrix." The brunette finally acknowledged the other witch's presense as she sat down beside her, it was no use fighting each other right there. "I never said you could start calling me Bellatrix!" The witch announced and was only met with a smirk in return as the younger turned her attention back to the lake.

"And never said you could torture me, but you did!" Hermione hissed at the suprisingly calm deatheater. ".. And frankly I don't care, Madam Lestrange seems dull anyway, I assumed I could at least call you by your real name after all the shit that's happened." She continued as the black-haired woman fiddled with strands of her hair that hung down in her face, she looked genuinely uncomfortable in the presense of the muggle-born without her master or sister nearby.

"I suppose it does sound a bit stupid, in all honesty I never liked the name anyway, would rather have stayed a Black." The dark witch replied in a tone that sounded genuinely kind, not like her usual self.

"So why don't you divorce that coward, Rodolphus then? I'm sure your family can't do that whole crap about disowning you since you already married the man for them." Hermione muttered, picking up a flat stone and skimming it across the lake, it skipped at least three times before sinking.

"That is true about Rod, but you have no idea how it is to grow up in a pureblood family." Bellatrix said looking sad for a moment before the stoic mask came back into place.

"No I wouldn't, but I'm glad I didn't, it sounds shitty from what I've heard and I would rather be bullied for being a Mudblood then be forced to marry and be the perfect wife or risk being disowned by my own parents" The words were spoken coldly and Bellatrix seemed shocked that the girl had used the word mudblood to describe herself and it had clearly shown through on her face as the girl chuckled. "You think I care about such words anymore?" It was a rhetorical question, she really didn't care anymore.

"Or you could always kill Rodolphus? It wouldn't be a big loss and I'm sure you wouldn't care about killing him." The brunette concluded looking at the older witch who had a mixture of emotions spread clearly across her face, and not moments later, anger was the most prominent emotion as it spread over her face and she glared at the girl before raising her wand and casting her favourite curse.

The younger witch dropped and seized on the gravel floor, which now dug sharply into her skin, she should have been screaming in pain like all of Bellatrix's other victims, but there was only quiet and the curse was lifted. "You should have screamed. You should have pulled the trigger. But you didn't, are you trying to mock me, you filthy Mudblood?" Bellatrix snarled at the girl still lay on the floor.

"I had nothing to gain from it, that's why, otherwise I probably would have killed you right then and there with no regrets Madam Lestrange." Hermione chuckled before the angry witch hit her with another cruciatus curse and she convulsed again, but this time instead of silence, what sounded like crying escaped her lip and left the dark witch smirking until the sound changed and it was now obvious that she hadn't been crying since guttural laughter now spilt from the younger female's lips.

"I was conditioned to pain, pain much worse than the cruciatus curse Madam Lestrange, nice try though." The girl laughed out as the curse stopped, the dark witch looked ready to kill her and she didn't doubt she wouldn't. A wandless, wordless 'Stupefy' was cast so that it knocked the older witch back, giving the girl enough time to sprint off.

A series of green and red spells along with cussing from the dark witch followed the brunette until she was out of range and turned into a dark figure running across the garden.

After the cursing of both kinds, the ravenette sat back down on the stone carved bench staring at the lake, the tall grass around the area rustling in the wind, it was after a while of sitting down that a pair of red eyes stared at her through the grass as the rustling increased and a black figure emerged, sitting down nearby.

The figure turned out to be a black wolf who seemed to have an injured leg as it limped and sat awkwardly on the floor nearby as if it knew how dangerous it was to be near the dark witch. Bellatrix stared back at it curiously, flinching when it dared to venture closer to her, a memory flashed by in her mind and she clutched at her sides.

 _A dark-haired man stared down at little Bellatrix with a burning look of hatred, both of young Bella's sister weren't far off, but she had stepped in to protect them from their father's wrath._

 _Her father looked rather unruly as of late and more angry then normally, it was evident in his voice as it shouted abuse at the young girl and his black eyes flicked over to the young blonde and brunette holding onto each other, his wife was nowhere to be seen as he pulled off his belt, hitting the young girl with it until her back looked bloody and bruised on the normally pale skin, the girl was screaming and her sisters cried for their father to stop._

 _Cygnus Black frowned at them, shouting for them to shut up, else they wanted to join their dear sister and make her enjure the pain in vain for them, his wand was swiftly drawn and it immediately went quiet, terror in the dark-haired girl's eyes as he cast the cruciatus curse on her, a red light flashing before she convulsed on the ground screaming out more._

 _Not even this was enough satisfy the man's desire to hurt someone, his job had recently become more and more fustrating as more people refused to allow the legimens into their memories, to obtain ones that could grantee if they were guilty or innocent instead they had started throwing up their occulmancy shields._

 _Barking could be heard nearby and a pack of jet black dogs were patrolling the gardens as usual, the man had shouted with anger at the dogs and pairs of yellow eyes loomed from the darkness, angry snarls sounding through the night as white teeth reflected in the little moonlight._

 _The dogs advanced ready to attack their supposed master who was now beating the girl again, he stood up and glanced to the dogs before bolting off, leaving his daughter defenseless and bleeding with a pack of vicious dogs, dogs which quickly pounced at her once they smelt the blood leaking from her wounds, multiple dogs biting her, aiming to rip at the flesh, her arms, legs and sides, everywhere they went for her until a series of red flashes threw the dogs a few feet away, now frozen to the spot._

 _Her sisters had their wands drawn and were shooting spells at the dogs before running over to little Bella who lay bleeding on the floor, her eyes half lidded and bruised, she looked barely concious. Young Narcissa muttered more spells, restraining the dogs before joining young Andromeda in hovering over Bella, her wand pointed at some of the minor injuries while she cast a few healing spells._

 _"I'm going to die! I don't want to die, Andy, Cissy!" Bella cried out, grabbing for her sister's hands. "It's going to be fine Bella. I know a spell for it ,but it's not a good spell to use, it's some dark magic I found in the library." Young Andy assured her sister, her wand hand shaking as her other stroked Bella's cheek. "Do it Andy, save Bella!" Young Cissy shouted, taking Andy's hand to try and calm her down._

 _"Listen to Cissy, help me Andy." Bella rasped, her breathing was laboured and raspy as blood gushed out of her wounds. Andy hesitated for a moment before waving her wand over the girl's body while muttering some complex sounding incantations, the wounds started to close up, but instead of healing them fully, the spell only half healed the wounds and now they looked a pure black._

 _"Now they're smaller wounds you can used normal healing magic." Cissy patted Andy on the shoulder, while Bella lay silently on the floor still bleeding out, the sight snapped Andy out of her shock and she began saying more incantations, the wounds healing fully as the skin knitted together, but the black of her skin didn't change, in fact it seemed to darken, unnoticed by her two sisters._

 _Andy and Cissy swiftly helped up Bella who was now bearly conscious, the walk to the Black manor was long and once there, Bella was bandaged and placed carefully on her bed._

A whining noise made her snap out of her vision and back to the injured wolf which she could see better now, its fur a pure black, its head now tilted to the side as it eyed up Bellatrix, who seemed to be fighting with her inner demons.

Pain reflected in her eyes as tears threatened to fall at the sudden memory, but even alone the witch refused to cry, a soft nuzzling against her leg was unexpected by the wolf, but she didn't curse it into oblivion, it was as if the wolf was trying to comfort her and she would take any comfort she could get.

The wolf continued to nuzzle her leg and she absent mindedly petted it, her slender hands brushing its fur which was just as black as her hair. Time slowly passed and the two stayed that way for what seemed like forever, but the sun hadn't even started to rise yet.

"Thank you" Bellatrix said to the wolf, her voice soft and calm for once and the wolf seemed to understand, moving its head and looking as if it nodded to her, but she was sure that was her mind playing tricks on her.

The wolf bowed down to the witch before turning around, about to walk off, but it didn't get far limping before the dark witch took sympathy on the creature and muttered a few healing spells on the wounds, it was a series of gashes in it's leg as if the wolf had been the victim of a miss-aimed 'Sectumsempra' at someone else.

The wolf had looked down since it arrived, but now it seemed to cheer up slightly, licking at Bellatrix's hand, which suprisingly the deatheater didn't mind and ruffled its fur once more before it left and she was alone with her thoughts once again, but instead of thinking about the painful memory again, she thought of the mudblood and her battle, along with the strange black wolf she had just encountered, as she strolled about the gardens until she arrived back at the manor doors.

The dark oak doors swung open and the witch stepped inside, venturing back up the stairs to where the meeting had been, she wondered if they were all still there, since no voices sounded through the manor.

A tall blonde appeared behind her, coughing to notify her sister that she was there. "Come on Bella! They're deciding what to do with the mudblood, suprisingly she asked for it." Narcissa called, gestering for her older sister to follow her back to the drawing room up the stairs.

Voices now echoed through the air as the two sisters climbed the stairs, the mudblood stood staring carelessly out of the window as the table debated, most making it clear they wanted her dead, others saying lock her down in the dungeon since the dark lord probably wanted to keep her to try and draw in the boy.

"Silence!" Voldemort bellowed, silencing everyone in the room as the two appeared at the top of the stairs. "Ahh Bellatrix, What is your opinion on this? Kill the Mudblood or Imprison her to try and trap Potter!" He questioned the dark witch, a dangerous and devious glint in his red eyes as his mouth curved into a crude smile.

"My lord?" Bellatrix hesitated as if asking why he kept putting the life of the mudblood on her shoulders, he didn't speak just gave her a look as if to say 'Because I trust you the most Bellatrix' she nodded in return before replying. "..I think if we can use her to trap the Potter boy, then we should keep her locked in the dungeons until we have a proper plan, though if we did kill her, it would be a waste not to torture her, at least try to get some information out of her." Her eyes glinted with excitement as she suggested torturing the girl, eventually she could break her.

A low laugh sounded after the mention of torture to get information, everyone's eyes flicked to the source of the short bout of laughter, it came from the girl who was now staring at the dark-haired woman.

"Dungeons it is then.. And Bellatrix, you're welcome to torture her still, in fact I'm sure anyone can if they wish to." Voldemort's smirk grew wider as the words left his lips and everyone acknowledged them, many of the deatheaters now wore shit-eating grins at the thoughts.

"Oh you're welcome to try and do that!" The mudblood announced with a smirk matching that of the deatheaters before she let out a dark chuckle and walked over to the two sisters.

Narcissa glared as the 'filthy' girl approached them and Bellatrix had a pyschotic grin etched on her face, that would make anyone else shiver in the boots, but Hermione was no longer scared of the intimidating woman, she had seen much worse over her time away.

Both sisters gave each other a look, prodding the brunette with their wands to get her moving. The pair ushering her around the huge manor until they encountered a large barred door, the bars seemed rusted and old, but she could feel an aura radiating from them and guessed that was probably some of the enchantments, the lock was huge and looked complicated so a simple alohamora wouldn't unlock it, even if she had her wand, although she wasn't given much time to examine the door before being thrown in the dungeon and locked in.

 _A/N So things are changing here, Bellatrix does have a vulnerability but she'll keep it locked up for now, and Hermione is in for a hard time._


	4. Death And Dementors

Both sisters gave each other a look, prodding the brunette with their wands to get her moving. The pair ushered her around the huge manor until they encountered a large barred door, the bars seemed rusted and old but she could feel an aura radiating from them and guessed that was probably some of the enchantments, the lock was huge and looked complicated so a simple alohamora wouldn't unlock it even if she had her wand, although she wasn't given much time to examine the door before being thrown in the dungeon and locked in.

The room smelt musty and mould seemed to grow in the depths of the place, it was large room from what she could tell as her wandless Lumos lit up a small portion of the room. Once you got past the smell and the mould though, the dungeon didn't seem so bad or at least not as bad as she thought it would be.

Although from experience, dungeons normally smelt of worse things then must and mould and also seemed to be covered in many mysterious substances, on top of them being deathly cold, but this particular dungeon was pretty warm and the grey stone walls gleamed with what she assumed was rain from the mornings downfall that had managed to sneak down into the manor's dungeon.

Hermione could tell all of this by the small lit part, but curiosity pushed her to explore the room fully and it wasn't as if she would be pulled from the dungeon anytime soon, maybe someone would come down and try to torture her, then fail epically and she could piss them off even more then she knew her presence already did to the bigoted purebloods.

She inspected the dungeon and nothing more was found out just everything she had thought was confirmed as the distinct smell of urine driffed to her nose near the back of the dark room, after that she had turned around since the smell had been very concentrated, it was safe to assume that was where many people had been tortured and soiled themselves.

More mould stuck to the other walls and a small table with a lantern on it perched nearby, it looked like it hadn't been used in a long time and the table seemed burnt and stitched together as it splintered all along its surface like it had been smashed to pieces many times. A few barrels and boxs of things she wasn't in a hurry to know about and a few metal loops on the walls where you could chain or tie up a prisoner.

Despite all of this, the dungeon seemed to be the tidest and comfiest dungeon she had even been held captive in. Hermione leaned against the wall closest to the door, she was in deep thought about many things dancing through her head, one of the main concerns was what she wore, it was comfortable for walking around in and chasing after people, but not for sleeping in.

She reckoned that she should catch up on some sleep, most of the inhabitants wanted to kill her, but it wasn't anything new and she didn't figure they could do much.

She had to concentrate on her clothing, wandless transfiguration wasn't exactly easy. The leather jacket soon morphed into a long, black leather trench coat that she shed for now, concentrating on the rest of her attire, the short sleeved shirt she was wearing soon became a black vest top and her jeans turned into black shorts before she lay the trench over her body as she curled into a ball in the corner of the floor, falling asleep soon after.

Footsteps clicked down the stairs and the door groaned in protest as it was swung to the side, the lantern on the table burst to life, illuminating most of the previously dark room, eyes tracing the room in search before landing on the slumped figure in the corner who seemed none the wiser that anyone else was there.

The clicks stopped in front of the figure before a boot was buried into their stomach, a groan erupted from them and their leg shot out, taking the other person's legs out from beneath them and with another groan they were lay on the floor underneath the figure they had previously towered over.

"What is it Bellatrix?" The now top figure questioned as her brown curls flowed down her shoulders. "Get off of me, you filthy Mudblood!" Bellatrix shrieked out, slamming her hands against Hermione's stomach.

"Will you stop with the assault on my stomach? Now what is it you wanted?" Hermione growled as she stood up, offering her hand to the pissed off witch below her who took her hand and yanked her down to the floor, straddling her as nails clawed at wrists. Faces inches apart, both contorted in anger. Black curls now cascaded down the older witch's shoulder, brushing against the younger's face.

"The dark lord wishes to see you again, you're lucky you not dead.. Yet, Mudblood!" Bellatrix answered before standing up and brushing her dress off then striding to the door, flicking her wand to put out the lantern in the process, the reluctant brunette following closely behind.

They had walked back to the drawing room and once again the deatheaters sat along the long oak table, some not paying attention, others eyeing the pair up and waiting for something to happen.

Not soon after they had entered, the ravenette threw brunette to the solid wood floor, Hermione's head collided with the floor before the rest of her body and a grunt sounded as she went to move her hand to rub her head, her hand never achieved relieving the pain as both were slammed down and pinned to her sides, the dark witch straddling her waist once again, this time with a smirk plastered on her face.

"Hmm, What exactly is it that you plan on doing Bellatrix?" Hermione smirked, allowing her tensed muscles to relax under her hold before a hand smacked into her cheek, the 'slap' echoed through the silent room and some began to laugh.

If she had her hands free she would have rubbed her jaw and head by now, instead settling for moving her jaw to check it was still in its socket. "Nice hit!" She said in a matter of fact tone and felt a glare burn into her head before punches rained down on her, bruises soon to litter her normally pale and clear skin expect the 'mudbloods are people too' scar, and now red trails and crescent moons littered the skin already, some of them dripped a little blood as the dark witch's nails had pierced the skin.

A groan then a yawn sounded and a knife glinted in the fire light, the tip of the blade trailing across her skin, leaving knicks in the flesh that blood trickled out of. Teeth buried themselves into the girl's pulse point, a strangled moan dragged out and the older witch looked down with disgust. "You like it!" She shrieked, slamming her fist into the girl's face, a stream of blood ran out of her nose and down her chin on to her collar bone, stopping just above the neck of the vest.

"I told you it wouldn't work." She chuckled in response, leaning forward so she was right in the dark witch's face, a daring grin on her face before another punch wiped it off. "I'll break you eventually Mudblood!" Bellatrix smirked back.

The two were having an intense stare down, until steps snapped them out of it and a dark-haired man appeared at the top of the stairs, he looked young and gave the sense of being new here, his eyes flitted around the room eventually landing on Bellatrix and Hermione.

A snigger gracing his lips before he spoke up. "Who's that?" At that Hermione's head snapped up landing on the young male, a evil smirk appearing as she seemed to recognise him.

"Ohh it's a little mouse!" Hermione smiled deviously, the man looked at her confused. "Aww you don't recognise me sweetie?" She sneered and he shook his head.

"Hmm one minute." She muttered, pushing her hands to her hair and raking her fingers through the long, curly hair which soon turned into a very short cut, it was now straightened and was about the length of Harry's hair, it lay on her face ruffled.

His face dropped into a horrified expression and he screamed out. "No, No, No, Noooo!" He stumbled about, turning to run back down the stairs.

"Aww you missed me, but you're not getting away that easily this time little mouse!" Hermione laughed childishly, easily pushing the ravenette off her and chasing after the young man, hopping over the banister of the stairs and landing like a cat instead of running down them.

Fast footsteps echoed through the house, suddenly stopping another scream, this time it was a single word he screamed out, it bounced off the walls... Then deafening silence.

Thuds sounded as she reappeared in the drawing room, stood on the last step looking the same as if nothing had happened. "He got away then." One of the deatheaters laughed at her and she rolled her eyes, acting along. "Yeah, he totally got away." Sarcasm dripping in her tone as she muttered something else and the body floated to land on the floor.

An audible gulp sounded and the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The young man no longer breathing, his skin now a pale white except for around his neck where it was purple and brusied in the shape of hands, his eyes now faded, but were forever etched with terror.

"What in Merlin's name?" Narcissa exclaimed at the site, Granger now looked like a younger version of the current Bellatrix, minus the hair and aristocratic aura.

"He wasn't scared of our lord or Bellatrix, but a Mudblood girl. She has to be more of a pyschotic bitch then Bellatrix!" One of the deatheaters grumbled, all eyes on the now short haired witch.

"No, she's an assassin there's a difference! And he was right to be scared." A cold voice spoke from the corner and a woman stood there with a scruffy looking house elf at her feet.

The woman was tall and thin, wearing a silk looking burgundy dress, silver hemming and decorations covering the red fabric, various rings and other jewellery lay on her fingers, wrists and neck with green gems encased in silver, a huge slytherin vibe radiated from her.

Long blonde hair flowed down to her waist and she had piercing grey eyes, her lips curved into a devious smile, the woman sort of looked like Narcissa, apart from the searing gaze that Narcissa had, which was obviously a black family trait as Bellatrix definitely held that attribute too.

"Ohh hello, Madam Macmillan. Pleasure to see you again. Did you need anything else?" Hermione greeted the woman who had all eyes on her.

"Ahh no I don't require anymore help from you H, I'll call you if I need your assistance again. I just came here to give you this." The woman replied, producing a small, brown bag and throwing it to the brunette who gracefully caught and placed it into the coat now hanging on the end of the banister. And with that the blonde took hold of her house elf and they disapperated by his magic, a loud 'crack' sounded and it was silent again.

"An assassin? You're an assassin, Granger? Ok can you clarify what assassin actually means?" Bellatrix asked, if her gaze could burn a hole in someone, Hermione was sure she would be full of holes by now.

"A hired killer, kind of like a deatheater, but instead of working for Voldemort here, I work for many different people who I've made contracts with, magical or not. Happy?" Hermione deadpanned, messing with the bag in the pocket of her leather coat.

"You dare speak his name with your filthy mouth... A hired killer? Like you're paid to kill?" Bellatrix snarled at the girl's nerve. "Yes I dare, and yes like paid to kill!" Hermione hissed back at the angry witch.

A bout of harsh, guttural laughter erupted from along the table, joined by other laughter. "Oh Please Mudbaby. You expect us to believe that bunch lies!" Bellatrix laughed out.

"Believe whatever you want to Bellatrix. You purebloods always do anyway." The reply was hissed with a burning glare aimed at the dark witch.

"My lord, I have a new idea as to what we could do with the creature of filth!" A deatheater she couldn't see announced, distracting both from their glaring match. Voldemort motioned him to go on and what he suggested seemed inhumane to allow. "The dementors kiss! She doesn't die so we can still use her to trap Potter."

Gasps from a few people, but the rest seemed to like the idea, Voldemort poundered the idea while Narcissa and Draco looked horrified, Lucius didn't seem to care and Bellatrix was clearly in deep thought at that suggestion, she hated the mudblood, but she hated dementors more and even though she hated her, Bellatrix would never wish the dementors on anybody.

Finally Voldemort nodded at the suggestion, terror evident in some of the pairs of eyes laid on her, it was evident even in Hermione's eyes. "Son of a bitch!" Hermione growled at the man who she had seen being patted on the back for his idea.

Voldemort gestered and Hermione's body floated in the air by her ankle, hovering over the middle of the table until she landed on the solid wood with a 'thump' more gestering and the room became cold, a kind of cold that only dementors could create, chills racked her spine as terror set in.

The black, cloaked figures floated in the room and drifted across to the table, the effects of the dementors got her and happiness disappeared leaving only the bad memories to swarm her mind.

They hovered towards her, at least three took the lead moving closer as she scrambled backwards along the table, her legs rubbed against the table, irritating the already redden skin that wasn't covered by her shorts, sweaty palm slipping slightly underneath her weight as they guided and helped pulled her away from the horrible creatures.

She panicked as the table neared its end and there was nowhere else left to run from them, from her soon to be fate. A flash of an old memory passed by, an old memory which was old for a reason.

Fear drove her in that moment and a wandless spell escaped her lips, a whispered 'Sectumsempra' concentrating on her torso and as soon as the words had left her lips, gashes appeared along her torso as blood gushed from the wounds soaking her tank top and pooling around her on the table, her head lulled to the side now staring into dark eyes, those dark eyes staring back in shock.

"Serverus, we can't have her die, at least not yet." Voldemort said to the black-haired man nearby who understood, flicking his wand in a series of motions over the girl's body and wounds began to heal and blood dissappeared. And not seconds after she jolted back up with a huge gasp, a look sent his way, asking why he had to do that.

Now the dementors all floated just above her, leaning down. Eyes widened in fear and she lashed out, her arms and legs pushing to keep the dementors away, albeit uselessly in the end as the creatures grabbed at her legs with their corpse-like hands.

"Damn it, it's touching me get it off" The brunette screamed in fustration, pulling away more, her back almost crashing into Voldemort, who now smirked cruelly, pushing her closer to the creatures.

A flick of his boney wand and her arms were pulled apart and held to the table with thick, metal shackles that gave no room to move, the girl was now pinned in a cross shape, arms spread wide and legs locked together.

There was only a slight gap between her wrists facing up and the shackles, but she fought against the restraints with all her strength, they cut into her wrists, bruising them a deep purple and black as the skin split in places so that blood ran along its surface like a stream leaving different sized lines all along her arms.

Once again her head lulled to the side to gaze at those dark eyes before a whisper left her lips, her last idea to stop this before the dementors got her. "I dare to say his name Bella, I dare to say Voldemort!"

Rage filled eyes burned into her, but the dark witch didn't attack her, she realised what Hermione was doing, but still forced herself not to attack her for her cheek, albeit it was a smart idea to think of in the moment, to piss off Bellatrix and die from an 'Avada' rather than be robbed of her soul by dementors.

A sigh escaped her lips when she realised Bellatrix wouldn't retaliate, and she let her head fall to the table. "The one time I need you to be that crazy, psychotic bitch and you're not!" Hermione muttered for only Bellatrix to hear.

A corpse-like hand gripped at the brunette's throat, closing tightly around it as if trying to hold her into place before the hooded head closed in, blurring as it began taking her soul, her body shook against the restrains and table, becoming still as the creature leaned back and a shining blue orb dotted with black spots floated from her lips, her eyes looked faded as if dead.

The restraints disappeared as the orb floated higher and it looked like the girl's magic was weakening as loads of smugded black spots appeared along her skin, differing in sizes and slowly clearing up to reveal different tattoos, showing many different family crests and other icons. "The black family crest is here.. multiple times? Also the Lestrange crest... actually there's a lot of pureblood family crests and some things I don't recognise." One of the deatheaters exclaimed.

Everyone's gaze snapped to her body, tracing the tattoos, a boney hand trailed the black family crest on the girl's left hand as dark eyes examined all the tattoos, which she guessed were magical bonds, eyes stopping on a small tattoo on her neck, hands tracing the writing there. "An azkaban tattoo?" Bellatrix muttered, focusing on the tattoo.

The dementors moved closer to the ball of light, they were almost able to touch it before they swerved away from it as if it was hurting them. A figure emerging from the ball of light, so it was joined by a slow shaping otter, the otter swimming about the air and pushing the dementors away from the ball of light which began to slowly float back to the girl's lips.

Tense moments passed as the otter continued to chased the cloaked creatures away, eventually resting near the girl's side, a curious look on it's face as it seemed to examine the dark witch next to it.

A audible intake of air and the brunette shot up after the sphere of light returned to its rightful place. "That never gets any better!" She breathed out.

The glowing otter sitting next to her began to fade and the dementors floated ever closer, Bellatrix's hand still on the table from where she had leaned in to trace the tattoos, her wand or at least her temporary wand in her hand. Hermione's hand shot out grasping at the wand, her hand wrapped around Bellatrix's as she aimed it at the advancing dementors. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She bellowed the spell and silver light pulsed out of the wand, the dementors looked as if they were screaming before they crashed through the windows and out of sight.

Not moments after the dementors had fled from the scene, Bellatrix yanked her hand back towards her in an attempt to get the brunette to let go of her wand, instead ending up with her chair falling to the floor and the muggle-born landing on top of her.

"Get off mudblood!" Bellatrix hissed as the brunette shifted slightly, a sharp pain shooting through her neck before the brunette hopped up, grinned deviously and whispered so only the dark witch could hear. "Payback." Was all she said before standing up and sprinting from the room.

 _A/N So Hermione has to fear at least one thing because even Bellatrix fears something, the Dementors._


	5. A Saviour

"Get off Mudblood!" Bellatrix hissed as the brunette shifted slightly, a sharp pain shooting through older witch's neck before the brunette hopped up, grinning deviously and whispered so only the dark witch could hear. "Payback." Was all she said before standing up and sprinting from the room.

Bellatrix lay on the floor still, Narcissa bent down to help her up, a shocked look spreading across her face before she lay her hand over Bellatrix's neck and whispered so only her sister would be able to hear her. "Bella, you're bleeding.. on your neck! Was it the girl?"

A pale, boney hand clapped over the hand of the blonde, moving it slowly to the side, covering the spot. "My lord! May I be excused for now? I need to deal with a particularly annoying problem." Bellatrix asked, standing up to bow, her hand to her neck still, to cover the mark she was yet to see herself.

"Of course Bella. I hope you have.. fun, dealing with that problem." He smiled cruedly at her, his yellowed teeth arranged crookedly in his mouth. With that Bellatrix disapperated to the gardens, where she assumed the mudblood was waiting and was proved right.

"Hello again, Bellatrix or would you prefer Madam Black, since you dislike the Lestrange name." Hermione greeted not turning round to confirm it was Bellatrix. "I mean I could always call you something else, but I know you wouldn't like that." Hermione grinned and finally turned to see the dark witch glaring at her, wand pointed at her chest.

"How dare you touch me you Mudblood? How dare you do this a pureblood?" Bellatrix snarled, muttering her favourite curse. Minutes went by and felt like hours as the spell concentrated on the girl, became stronger, the more annoyed the older witch got from the girl not screaming in pain.

"You had no permission to do that.. you filthy girl." She shrieked at the wriggling figure underneath her. "Oh please, that's obviously not the only reason you're out here, by yourself nonetheless, and you're probably missing your dear master's repeated speech." Hermione announced and the spell haulted.

"You were in Azkaban?" Bellatrix questioned, her eyes gleaming with curiosity at the younger's disappearance act. "Yes, I was for a while, but not as Hermione Granger, so that's why you wouldn't know. I was forced to live the same nightmares over and over again, while anything remotely happy was sapped away by the dementors.. Of course I eventually escaped and don't wish a repeat of that hell-hole, with the constant nightmares on repeat as I'm stuck in my own head, that's the worst part." She replied looking to the lake again.

"So who were you in Azkaban? And it really seems you didn't have a nice time with the dementors." Bellatrix asked, sitting on the bench next to the brunette, quite a distance between them although neither were relaxed, both very alert that the other could attack at any moment.

"I was.. Well I didn't really have a name in there to be honest. They gave me a name though, but mostly I was prisoner 393. And I don't think anyone has a nice time with the dementors, especially you." Hermione muttered, Bellatrix frowned, impatient at the girl's stalling. "What was the name? Tell me!"

"Bella Blake! I think it was a take on your name." Hermione mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the older women. "Those filthy.." Bellatrix started, but Hermione interupted. "Hey I think they had fair reasoning for that to be honest Madam Black!"

"And why would that be?" She questioned furrowing her eyebrows when the brunette answered. "Look at the azkaban mugshots and they will answer your question pretty well, they were taken after a while in Azkaban, hence why it's like that."

"Fine I'll look into it, but not because you told me to, just because I have nothing else to do at present!" The dark witch sighed. "What do you mean? You have me to talk to Trixie!" Hermione sniggered at the nickname before being thrown to the floor again, another bout of the cruciatus curse.

More minutes passed with the curse until she released the girl from its hold on her, straddling her waist. Bellatrix's knees either side of her hips, the sharp gravel digging into both witches.

"Don't call me Trixie ever!" Bellatrix growled, her hands pinned Hermione's to the ground. "You know if you keep teasing me like this, I'll have to deal with the problem myself Bella-trix!" Hermione smirked seductively at the darker haired witch as she put emphasis on the 'Bella'.

"Why you little.." The dark-haired female shrieked, moving her hands to slap the brunette across the face, another pair of hands bring them to stop just before making contact. "It's true though, I will have to deal with the problem if you don't stop.. And you can't deny you don't like it, you're pressed against my body and you think I can't feel that?" Hermione chuckled.

"Feel what? There's nothing between us. Now let go of my hands you filth." Bellatrix glared suspiciously at the younger woman beneath her who leaned upwards, so they were inches apart. "I call bullshit, either that or you like failing at torturing someone so much, that it turns you on."

"Shut up you filthy, little Mudblood!" Bellatrix growled, burning holes into the girl's head with her glare. "But I'm not wrong, you're turned on by said filthy Mudblood or at least torturing said Mudblood and failing." The brunette smirked, sticking her tongue out at the older witch.

"I'll kill you!" Bellatrix shrieked shaking her hands loose of the other woman's grip and clawing at the girl's wrists, her body pushed against the other and the dark-haired witch became the one straddled to the floor by the brunette.

"I hate you, get off of me filth!" Bellatrix growled at the girl hovering above her, their faces inches apart. "You're aware I don't love you, I just.. well you know!" Hermione chuckled at the response she achieved from the other witch.

Bellatrix understood what she was saying, lust reflected in her eyes giving it away, which strangely made her lust for something as well, a journey into the unknown perhaps.

The older witch leant upward slightly, peering through her heavily lidded eyes at the brunette, whose breath she could feel on her lips.

A smirk graced the girl's lips as they met, a furious and lust filled kiss, both of them moving their lips in sync with the other until the brunette's tongue ran smoothly across the ravenette's, Bellatrix's teeth sinking into the brunette's tongue at the action, a flash of anger burned within Bellatrix's eyes.

"Fiesty.. I like that!" Hermione grinned deviously, her tongue grazed across her lip to clean the blood forming there. Something flickered within her eyes and lips crashed into lips again with more ferocity, her now teeth sinking into Bellatrix's bottom lip drawing blood and earning a low growl, a growl of which the brunette took advantage of, the brunette's tongue slipping through the ravenette's opened mouth to meet her tongue in a battle for dominance.

The two battled for dominance, the brunette finally pulling back for air after a while, releasing the other woman from her grip, standing up and staring down at the dark-haired witch below her. "Well you just kissed said filthy Mudblood. Does that make you a blood traitor, dear Bella?" Hermione sniggered before disappearing like a wisp of black smoke into the night.

Minutes ticked by and Bellatrix eventually stood up, brushing herself off and sitting on the bench instead of trying to go after the girl who had disappeared like deatheaters did via apparation, the girl just seemed to be getting more mysterious by the second and acting nothing like her normal swotty self.

A series of spells flashing nearby pulled Bellatrix out of her thoughts only to realise those spells had been meant for her and she was paralysed in her sitting position on the bench and it felt like she was tied with ropes as well.

A black figure appeared from the darkness a deranged grin of rotten teeth on the person's face, unruly dark hair cascaded down the figure's abnormally pale face and their nose looked crooked as if broken recently, sharp black eyes examined her before they advanced.

"I reckon I'll get a big sum of money for killing you Madam Lestrange.. That is why I'm here after all and it seems it was too easy to ambush you!" The stranger spoke in a gruff voice, his voice matched his appearance, both of which where horrible as if he had only just broken out of Azkaban himself.

"Who the hell are you?" Bellatrix hissed at her attacker, her wand was now in one of his bloodied hands albeit it wasn't even her wand it was Draco's which they had managed to get back from Potter, but her own wasn't found so she used Draco's and he used his Mother's while Narcissa used a spare wand, one they had found in the Black manor.

His face lit up at the question and he answered smugly. "I'm your murder, Bellatrix Lestrange!" At that the witch cackled in delight at his arrogance, another cackle drifted through the air, both Bellatrix and the figure turned to another dark figure, who was just about covered by the shadows that the manor cast.

"Such an arrogant fool! Why do all you purebloods have to be like that? Will you really be the one to murder Bellatrix Lestrange? Or are you trying to make yourself look better by saying you will in the assassins world, Leon Bulstrode? Hmm trying to climb the food chain!" The figure addressed the scruffy man who now aimed his wand at them.

"Also starters tip, never ever turn your back on your target or enemy, not even your allies because they won't hesitate to slit your throat like anybody else Mr Bulstrode!" The figure advised the dark-haired man, who still pointed his crooked looking wand in their direction.

"Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?" He questioned and a chuckle escaped the figure as they stepped forward into the moonlight, revealing them partially.

Short, dishevelled raven locks stuck out in every possible angle around the dark mask they wore, covering most of their face, it was a black mask of a wolf with a few intricate, silver patterns trailing around the eyes slots where curious dark eyes peered out.

The mask's snout covered till their nose and left from their mouth down visible, a manic smile etched onto their face, a pale almost paranormal shade of white skin contrasted with the pure black mask, the moonlight making it appear even more so ghostly on the visible patches of skin, since they wore a dark cloak and jeans underneath with matching black combat-like boots, the rest of them remained hidden.

"Because I know my targets and my clients before I accept my challenges and I'm sure you know who I am now!" The masked figure spoke up and the previously confident man crumbled in terror, the masked figure's name on his lips.

"...The Dark Wolf! Hh-How could I not know you? I'd have to be dead to not know the the number one assassin!" He stuttered, his eyes flying about the garden in search for an exit.

"There's no exit, and don't worry, that's been arranged, you'll soon be dead.. As for Miss Lestrange there, well she'll be released, she is after all who I was sent to protect!" The masked figure smirked before flicking their hand idly in the man's direction, he began to rasp out, clutching at his throat, where a series of neat cuts had appeared and blood ran down his body, pooling on the ground below him.

"Well that went well.. Why do they always go down so easily though? Makes it no fun when that happens." The figure sighed out before approaching the body and retrieving Bellatrix's wand, waving it in her direction before throwing it to her.

Bellatrix's hand shot out grasping the wand, a slight fuzzy feeling residing in her body after being stunned. "Who are you?" The question just slipped from her lips and the figure stared at her a while, their mouth curved into a curious smile.

"Ahhh that is for me to know and you to find out soon, dear Bellatrix!" They responded, she saw a mysterious glint in their eyes before they turned to leave, her hand stuck out to grab them, but they weren't close to each other, a unexpected statement leaving her lips. "Thank you, whoever you are!"

They turned suprised by the words that had left the witch's mouth, a smile playing across their lips in appreciation that a pureblood had swallowed their pride for once and thanked them. "It's my job! You're welcome though Mrs Lestrange!" They replied, bowing briefly before disappearing into the darkness once again, leaving the deatheater to think to herself again.

Minutes later her sister crept up to her, sitting on the stone carved bench and looking onto the lake as the moonlight rippled off it. A cold hand rested on the darker witch's shoulder, snapping her out of thoughts, her hand clutching the blonde's throat straight away until dark eyes finally meet blue swirls of emotions and the hand immediately released it grip.

"Cissy? I-I'm sorry, I thought.. you were someone else!" Bellatrix looked down again, a unreadable expression on her face. Narcissa's eyes surveyed her sister for answers, her hand resting on her sister's that were resting on Bella's slightly muddied dress.

"What happened Bella?" Narcissa asked as she rested her hands on her sister's, the older witch flinching slightly at the action. The blonde soon settled her gaze on her sister's hands, flipping them over so she could she bloodied palms and marks where it looked like a rope had been tied tightly there.

".. I found the mudblood, but she got away and.. And then I got attacked by a filthy looking man who was going to kill me Cissy!" Bellatrix muttered, unable to understand what had happened.

"Bella? Please tell me what happened!" Narcissa said, worry evident in her tone and her eyes as they searched Bellatrix's for any answers to her sister's shocked state, this was a totally new experience for them both or at least a long forgotten experience for both.

"I had her in my grasp and she just seemed to disappear so fast like.. smoke in the air like she disapperated, but she can't have Cissy.. Then I got stunned by this man, who looked like he had just escaped Azkaban and he was so arrogant. Is that how we all sound?" Bellatrix questioned and Narcissa furrowed her brows. "No, not all of us.. The Mudblood seems to be more mysterious by the second!" She pondered out loud.

"That's what I thought Cissy, but I was thrown off that subject when he attacked and threaten me... He threatened me Cissy. He should have been glad the other killed him before they freed me." Bellatrix hissed.

"The other? Who? And why?" Narcissa exclaimed confused by what Bellatrix was saying, black eyes meet blue and Bellatrix seem to finally snap out of her daze completely, back to her normal demented self.

"Yes, there was another figure, a masked figure who seemed so mysterious and carefree almost. They stopped the man and once they revealed themselves, the man lost his nerve, became desperate for a way out, but the masked figure killed him and freed me before disappearing into the night from once they came. Cissy.. They did it all with such elegance and... The man before he died said the masked figure was the number one assassin before he panicked because they said they were here to kill him in order to protect me." Bellatrix told the story of what happened, to her sister.

Narcissa's features contorted into a confused look before she spoke up. "So they're like a saviour to you? But a paid one... The real question though, is who paid them to protect you?"

The dark-haired woman's eyes flashed with something the blonde couldn't quite place. "Yes like a saviour, I suppose and even if they were paid to protect me, I am still thankful to them for being there in time.. And yes you have a point. Who exactly did pay them to protect me? And why did they need to come to protect me?"

"It gets more mysterious as time goes on, just like Granger. Who indeed would get you protection?" The blonde muttered before a voice answered from the night. "That, you do not need to know. It would be better if you didn't!"

"Hey you get back here! Answer the question Wolf!" Bellatrix shouted to the shadows, albeit she didn't know where exactly they were within them.  
"But you, my dear don't necessarily need to know that information!" The same voice spoke again, it was a low voice like that of a male, but Bellatrix had a hunch that if they wore a mask to protect their identity then their voice would be altered as well.

Although they were protesting about answering the questions, the voice's owner still walked out into the moonlight, revealing the masked figure to Bellatrix once again, a smirk still plastered on their face.

"So we meet again." The dark witch said, still sitting down on the bench next to her sister, only now facing the figure instead of the lake. "It's seems so, but I'm ordered to keep an eye on you, so it would be bad if we didn't!" They replied with an air of mystery, both sisters now noticing the knife twirling effortlessly between the figure's fingers.

"Who are you? Why are you protecting me? From what exactly? Who's paying you to protect me?" Bellatrix questioned rapidly before the figure could disappear again, the figure approached the sisters, covering the older's mouth in an attempt to shut her up.

"Woah calm down there! Take a breath before you suffocate and my contract is a waste! One question, that is all I'll answer, so think long and hard about which one it is you really want to know the answer to Bellatrix!" They replied, moving there now wet hand away from Bellatrix's teeth which had at one point sunken into the flesh and drawn a little blood.

"Evening Mrs Malfoy!" The figure greeted briefly before leaning on the edge of the bench, their face right in front of the dark-haired woman's whose expression was of concentration, not of malice.

"Who are you working for?" Narcissa asked, facing the figure who was leaning next to her sister, their attention fixed on her, her normally neat blonde hair now slightly dishevelled, but she was still as beautiful, like the flower she was named after.

"I did say for Bellatrix, but if that the question you both wish to know, I shall say that much. Bellatrix?" The masked ravenette mused, turning to the older of the sisters.

"Yes, but I'll rephrase it, so you can't answer it differently to what we want to know. Who did you make the contract with to protect me?" Bellatrix smirked deviously and the figure smiled in return.

"Clever to rephrase it, else I would have answered differently then what you wanted.. But the answer to that would be, a member of the Black family or at least your part of the Black family!" They responded with a grin as both sisters frowned at the figure's ability to avoid answering the question directly.

"You never asked who exactly it was. If want to outsmart me on that you have to try harder dear. I am trained to let only the smallest amount of information loose, if any at all, plus I think it would overwhelm you if I said who it was. And I'm bound not to say directly who they are to anyone, just saying that was a risk to my contract and my life!" They replied, twitching slightly as the words left their mouth.

They turned, but two sets of hands shot out, grabbing onto the material of their cloak. They haulted in their steps, ripping their cloak from the two sister's grips as they turned around to face to two again.

"What is it? I have other business to attend to... but I shall be back and if you need me just call!" They mentioned before Bellatrix or Narcissa could say anything.

"Why does that risk your life? And call you how exactly?" Both sisters ask puzzled.

"Because I'm tied into contracts by some pretty dark magic, I would assume you and your lord are familiar with it actually since that a variation of the spell in which people are bonded together like with the deatheaters." They pause, looking at Bellatrix who understood the spells used, but not how they knew of its existence there. "As for calling me, you could just holler for me or owl.. I won't be far away anyway!" They whisper before disappearing once again.

 _A/N Sorry for the delay, but as you can tell I don't really have any chapters in the reserve, I caught up with myself and haven't had much time to write recently, a lot of crazy stuff been happening and some utter panic, but who doesn't do a panic every once in a while._


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